


Black Coffee

by starstruck_moon



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Coffee Shops, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Marauders Era (Harry Potter)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-30
Updated: 2020-04-30
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:21:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23926825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starstruck_moon/pseuds/starstruck_moon
Summary: Sirius and James go for a coffee in Muggle London summer after fifth year.It just so happens that Remus works there...
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Kudos: 110





	Black Coffee

The cafe was large and airy, with a huge window, simple wooden decor and brass hanging lamps. It was located in a reasonably central area of London. The pay was decent and the coworkers were friendly. For a place to work, it was pretty ideal.

It was here that Remus John Lupin was spending his summer after his fifth year at Hogwarts. He'd worked here the year before too, needing the money after his father's death. It was very far from his home in a small Welsh town, but it was easy to floo to the Ministry and catch a bus. Being quite close to a group of office buildings, the cafe was frequented by workers, meaning that each day was fairly predictable. There was a morning rush from 8 to 9, a lunch hour rush from 12 to 2, and a post-work crowd from 6 to 8. Remus worked morning and afternoon shifts, getting to the cafe at 8 and working till 3.

He enjoyed it - he was friends with the other two baristas, Lucy and Ruby, who were muggles around his age. The calm period from 9 to 12 was when he had time to think. He couldn't do his magic homework around muggles and he hated reading a book with interruptions from customers, so he didn't really have much to do. If he wasn't chatting with the other baristas Ruby and Lucy, or serving the occasional customer, Remus found himself reflecting on Sirius Black.

His friend had changed over the last year. Remus would have like to think that some of it was his influence. Sirius was still Hogwarts' resident heartbreaker, having snogged at least half their year, boys and girls alike, but he'd started to channel some of his brilliance from pranks into actual schoolwork. Then there had been the Incident with Snape at the beginning of the year. Padfoot had been uncharacteristically silent after it, avoiding Remus, probably thinking that he was mad at him. He had been at first, but knew about Sirius' arguments with Regulus and understood that it was hotheadedness and not cruelty that had made him do it. There'd been an awkward tension between them, because Remus was waiting for the other boy to apologise to him. It had taken James - who had had a massive mainly one-sided argument with Sirius, hexed him, stormed off and was now on normal terms with his best friend - to sort it out. They'd spent an evening locked in the potions cupboard by Prongs, and Padfoot had looked him in the eye, his own unfathomable grey ones glimmering unusually, and apologised. Remus had forgiven him and everything had gone back to normal.

Except it wasn't quite. After that, Remus found himself staring at his best friend for no reason, noticing the elegant curve of his lips when he smiled, his broad, well-toned figure, the way his eyes glistening when he was planning a prank. Lily had been the one to tell him.

'You like him, Remus', she'd said gently.

'What? Why would you think that?' He'd replied, taken aback, because although he knew he liked boys as well as girls, Sirius was his best friend. Later that day, Sirius gave him a grateful smile after he'd let him copy his homework. He'd frozen for a full five minutes and stuttered every time he was addressed, and he realised that it was true. Then, three weeks earlier, Sirius had run away to the Potters'. Remus got a hastily scribbled owl from James telling him that Sirius had finally broken away, but he was hurt and although he and his parents were trying their best to help him, could Remus please please come visit for a bit? The moon had been the day before, but Remus had flooed to the Potter mansion after begging Lucy and Ruby to cover his shifts over the phone. He'd spent three days there. He and James had different ways of helping Sirius. James planned and pulled off elaborate pranks for which his parents tried to halfheartedly tell him off; for his part, Remus sat with Sirius outside, letting him talk or in companionable silence. Sirius' bruises, both emotional and physical, had diminished by the time Remus returned to his home.

Now, a month into the holidays, Remus was chatting with Ruby and Lucy during a lull in the cafe, which was empty, Lily'd visited the day before, complaining that she thought she might like James Potter back much to Remus' amusement, but was currently house hunting to help her sister Petunia. She'd promised to come in later.

'Tell us more about Sirius Black' Lucy demanded. Remus had told them about his crush as a sort of payment for them covering his shifts; Lucy in particular was a huge gossip.

Remus told them about the time the prank Sirius had pulled off, with him helping, last year for James' birthday. It had been pretty ambitious; they'd put up massive posters of James' face in the Great Hall using Permanent Sticking Charms before breakfast and somehow managed to change all the crests on the Slytherins' robes to pictures of James. Prongs had been thrilled, roaring with laughter every time he saw a surly Slytherin with his grinning face on their chest. Lily had rolled her eyes, but congratulated Remus later in the library on the use of Illusion Charms. Remus didn't tell them this, of course. Lucy and Ruby only heard about how they'd 'superglued' pictures of James everywhere. #

'The teachers were livid,' finished Remus, 'we got three days of detention'.

Lucy and Ruby chortled. 'Bet you enjoyed spending detention with him', Ruby said slyly. Remus only grinned. He'd been weirdly nervous and excited for the detentions because James and Peter had been excused from the detentions as they had no part in it. Sirius could make even cleaning all the silver in the Trophy room without magic fun, setting off mini fireworks as they worked, chatting about the next prank on Snape that Sirius was planning and Remus trying to talk him out of. (He gave in and helped in the end - he always did. Who could resist Sirius' puppy eyes? It could always control him. Unfair, really. Come to think of it, had he ever refused Sirius anything? Maybe once in third year when he'd tried to take away Remus' chocolate...) '...Remus?'

He jolted out of his reverie to see Ruby smirking. 'Aww, look at that, he's daydreaming about his crush', she teased. 'Shut up' he muttered, throwing an empty coffee cup at her as a slight breeze filled the cafe, announcing the arrival of one of the occasional customers. Ruby dodged the cup, laughing. Remus bent down to pick it up, freezing when he heard a familiar drawl. '...sure you brought the Muggle money, Prongs?' a voice said teasingly. 'Yes, Pads, for the last time. It's right here.' The footsteps that had been approaching the counter stopped near it. Remus pressed himself against the other side, so as not to be seen by them; he wanted to prank them - he'd been waiting for an opportunity ever since the three of them had charmed his chocolate to start singing Bohemian Rhapsody every time he touched it.

'So what did you want to tell me, Pads?' James' voice continued.

Remus grabbed a pen from the floor, ignoring Ruby's confused look. He scribbled on his hand.

'Let's just get food first' came the reply.

Lifting his arm, he tapped Lucy's foot and showed her his hand. Her eyes widened with understanding and she nodded imperceptibly. She nudged Ruby and gestured slightly to Remus on the floor. Ruby glanced down and smirked slightly. THAT'S HIM.

'Can we get an iced black coffee, passion fruit smoothie, and two of those bagels, please?' he heard James request.

'Sure, that'll be nine pounds forty please,' Ruby said smoothly. A rustling of notes, followed by a disbelieving 'that's a 50 pound note'. Remus facepalmed. 'Whoops' James said, a grin in his voice, and Remus could imagine Sirius smirking at him. Another money exchange, and then Ruby stepped around him to put the paninis in the oven, while Lucy went to make the drinks after pausing to wink subtly at him.

'So, Padfoot...' James said questioningly.

'Okay, so here's the thing. 'minlovewithremus' Sirius mumbled, just loud enough for the baristas to hear, although it was clear enough with Remus' heightened hearing. Remus pressed his hand over his mouth.

Sirius liked him back? He felt a weird feeling of euphoria and for some reason he wanted to laugh. He'd daydreamed plenty of situations where Sirius told him that he liked him: on the astronomy tower under the stars, after a full moon, during a Hogsmeade while James and Peter visited Zonkos, in the library. He'd never thought it would actually happen, that the dazzling, radiant Sirius Black would ever like him back, least of all in a muggle coffee shop where Sirius did not even know he worked.

He debated internally whether to spring up and tell Sirius that he liked him back or not. He decided to stay down - this was, after all, Padfoot and Prongs. They could be planning a prank or a joke. He pulled his phone out to text Lily.

James was silent for a second before bursting into laughter.

'What? I'm being serious! Ugh!' Sirius protested, as the old name joke only added fuel to James' laughing fit.

'You mean... you...you didn't know?' Prongs said between chortles.

'No? I only realised like last night. Wait, you knew?'

'It's so bloody obvious, mate. You don't stop staring at him, do you?'

'Do you think he knows?'

'Nah, I don't think so. How did you realise?'

'Well', Padfoot's voice became dreamy, 'you know you were rambling about your wedding with Evans? Well, I was thinking about myself as your best man and then I started thinking about my own wedding. I never really wanted to get married before, but then I could visualise a wedding - on the beach, in spring. It would be fairly small, only forty or fifty guests, you'd be the best man. I'd be wearing pale blue robes, and there'd be flowers everywhere. Daffodils, because that's Remus' favourite. And that's when I realised that I was marrying Remus and I actually really wanted to.'

'Didn't know you were such a romantic, Pads,' said James, unusually gently, 'oh thanks'. This was to Lucy, who'd put the drinks on the counter.

'No problem. Are you eating in?'

'Yup'

'Okay, I'll get the bagels to you once you go sit down' Footsteps away from the counter. Once they'd gone, Remus cautiously put his head over the counter to see where they were. They;d sat down at a booth with tall, high-backed sofas positioned so that it was hard to see the rest of the cafe and impossible to see the counter without performing some impressive body-twisting (which they'd probably be capable of). He stood up fully.

'Aww, that was adorable!' Lucy whispered, then she and Ruby burst into giggles. 'Shut up' grumbled Remus again.

His phone buzzed: Lily responding to his text: _knew he liked u back! im coming, really close to the shop. think potter will get a heart attack if i ask him out?_ Remus smiled. _yeah, yeah, ur always right. and yes, james will spontaneously combust for sure_.

The door opened and Lily breezed in, her fiery copper hair slightly dishevelled. She glanced around the cafe, spotting James and Sirius who were oblivious to her entrance, and approaching the counter. 'Hey' she greeted them softly. He beamed back in response. Lucy waved at her; they'd gotten along well the few times they'd met earlier that week.

The oven pinged. Remus pulled out the bagels, putting them on a tray. 'Wanna go say hi, Lily?' he whispered. He joined her on the other side of the counter as she pulled out her phone, and they ambled towards the table where their respective crushes sat, still unaware of their presence. '...his eyes are so gorgeous, have you seen them in the sunlight? They have these little flecks of gold, and his eyes crinkle up when he smiles. He has this special little smile when he eats chocolate, Merlin it's so cute, I want to give him chocolate all the time-'

'I wouldn't mind that' remarked Remus, from behind him.

Sirius spun around, eyes wide, and practically fell off his chair when he saw Remus. 'Here are your bagels' he said, sliding onto the sofa next to Sirius. James, who'd gone into another fit of laughter as soon as he saw Remus and who still hadn't noticed Lily (who was recording the whole thing on her phone with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes), grabbed one and took a bite. Sirius stayed frozen, staring at Remus with his adorable grey eyes.

'So, spring wedding, hmm? That sounds good. Ooh, it should be on my grandparents' anniversary - do you think May 14th's okay?'

'You heard that?'

'Seriously, Moony, how did you get here?' James asked, still guffawing. He rifled through a backpack by his side. 'I've still got my cloak'

'I work here. I was behind the counter'

Sirius covered his face. Remus turned to him.

'Is it true? Do you really like me like that?'

'Yes' came the muffled reply.

James coughed. 'I'll, ah, just nip to the loo or something-' He got up and turned around, then dropped his jaw. 'Hey Potter' smirked Lily. 'Wanna go to Hogsmeade together sometime?' James opened and closed his mouth several times. 'Um... I'd l-love to' he finally managed to stutter. 'Come on, let's leave these two alone and get some ice-cream. Meet you guys at Diagon Alley in a couple of hours?'

'Sure, I'll text you,' said Remus.

With a final wink, Lily slipped her hand into James', which made him turn crimson, and walked out. Remus turned his attention back to Sirius, who had taken his head out of his hands and was regarding him curiously. 'What's text?'

'You're avoiding the conversation.'

Sirius grinned sheepishly, his head tilted to the side, like how he always did when he was nervous or embarrassed. Which was extremely rare. 'I like you back, you know' Remus said conversationally.

'You do?' Grey eyes wide open, sparkling. Remus felt like he was in a warm spotlight, a slight butterfly sensation in his stomach: the feeling he got when Sirius was paying attention to him. 'Does anyone in Hogwarts not fancy you? Apart from Dumbledore, maybe'

'Snivellus probably doesn't. But apart from him...' He offered Remus a special smile, the one reserved just for him. Remus rolled his eyes, trying to keep his cool at the sight of that captivating smile.

'Git'

He leant into Sirius, putting his head on his shoulder. Sirius smiled down at him and wrapped an arm around his shoulder, eyes crinkling.

'Moons?'

'Hmm?'

'Be my boyfriend?' Remus smiled back up. 

' 'Kay'.

He closed his eyes, snuggling against his boyfriend, savouring his company.

Sirius dropped a kiss on his forehead and Remus could have died right there. They leaned together like that for a while, Sirius eating his bagel and sipping coffee. Then they left together, hand in hand, Remus waving goodbye to Lucy and Ruby, who watched him leave with fond smiles. They met up with a thrilled James and Lily, who were laughing at one of James' jokes, and spent the day together.

Sirius and Remus had their first proper kiss on Remus' birthday the next term, under the stars by the side of the Great Lake. Much later, they got married after they left Hogwarts, just the way Sirius had imagined it, walking up to the altar together. (James wouldn't stop sobbing.) They both signed up for the Auror programme with Lily and James, the four of them taking down Sirius' mad cousin, Bellatrix Lestrange. Their life wasn't always smooth sailing after that. Teddy Lupin-Black was born. Sirius had some raging arguments with his brother, which ended with Regulus seeing sense in leaving his family like Sirius, but gave everyone involved a splitting headache. But Remus couldn't have imagined a more perfect life, because he had Sirius Black in it.


End file.
